Improvement in lamp-chimneys



2 Sheets-Sheet I.

R. N. EAGLE, Lamp Chimney.

No. 86,291. Patented Jan. 26, 1869.

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Wain/as 566 N.-PETERS, PHOTO Limos 2 Sheets-Sheet 2.

Patented Jan. 26,1869.

6 1 w 6; aw z 8 h My. m z N W 40 ml finder g atmt WWW ROBERT N. EAGLE, OF WASHINGTON, DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA.

' Letters Patent No. 86,291, dated J anua/ry 26, 1869.

v IMPROVEIUENT IN LAMP-CHIIJNEYS.

The Schedule referred to in these Letters Patent and making part of thb sumo.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, ROBERT N. EAGLE, of the city and county of Washington, in the District of Columbia, have invented new and useful Improvements in Lamp-Chimneys for kerosene and other lamps; and I do hereby declare that the following is a full, clear, and exact description of the same, reference being bad to the annexed drawings, making part of this specification, in Which Figures 1, 1*,1", and 1, are respectively front and side elevations, and a horizontal section and top view of one form of chimney;

Figures 2, 2*, and 2", are similar elevations, and a section of another form of chimney;

Figures 3, 3, 3", and 3, are similar'elevation-views, anda section of another chimney Figure 4, 4t, and 4", are similar elevation-views, and a section of another form of chimney;

Figures 5, 5, and 5", are similar views of another modification Figures 6, 6, and 6", are similar views of another form; and

Figures 7 7 and 7*, are similar views of another form of chimney.

The same letters in all the figures indicate identical parts.

My invention relates particularly to the chimneys of kerosene or other lamps in which a flat-wick tube is used; and

My impovement consists in combining, in the construction of a lamp-chimney, a round base and an elongated tubular body, which is oval in form, at all parts above the base, to and including the mouth at the top of the chimney.

. Chimneys for lamps or gas-jets have heretofore been constructed of a great, variety of forms. Some have been cylindrical; others conical and round others oval along their entire length others are made with a round base, a round or oval body contracted and terminating with a cylindrical or tapering round top; and others with a conical base supporting a flattened globe, without any elongated extension at the top.

These chimneys have been intended to produce var rious results, and are found to be more or less objectionable, some giving very imperfect combustion, and others being liable to be broken by the'heat of the flame.

My object has been to produce a chimney which,

while being of the best form to produce a perfect com bustion of the gases evolved, shall, at the same time, be so formed as to produce as equal an application of the heat as may be practicable, and thereby avoid the tendency to break from irregular expansion.

I will proceed to set forth the principle of my invention, and the various modes contemplated for carrying the said principle into practice.

The object-to be attained is, first, to provide for the attachment of the chimney to the various forms of kerosene-burners, and, secondly, to so construct the chimney that the current of atmospheric air flowing through the chimney shall be directed upon the flame in such manner as to provide for the perfect combustion of the gases evolved, by the evaporation of the fluid with which the wick is saturated. Flame is pro carburetted hydrogen distilled from the oil or other fluid. This flame is hollow, the interior beingfilled with the uninflamed gases, and the thoroughness of the combustion is dependent upon the manner in which oxygen is supplied, so as to mix with the gaseous products of combustion. To effect most perfectly this the flame as much as possible, so that the oxygen may be brought into contact with all the gases, and the illuminating-surface made as large as possible.

The current of air passing through the chimney must neither be insu ificient for supplying the requisite amount of oxygen, nor so great as to reduce the temperature of the gases below the point necessary for intense combustion.

To meet these demands, I make the base of my chimney round, and of a size to fit the chimney-holder upon which it is to beplaced. An advantage resulting from this rounded base is, that the bulk of the ascending current of air will be opposite to and impinge-against the sides of the flat flame, and thus tend to widen the flame, not being resisted by the thinner part of the current rising at the ends of the flame, and between the wick-tube and chimney.

Some burners are made to-fasten the chimney by a set-screw passing over a flange on the lower edge of the base; others, as in the case of what are popularly known as the sun, or Collins burner, or the comet burner of Holmes, Booth, and Hayden, support the chimney by means of peripheral springs attached to or forming a part of the dome or deflector. I have shown, in figs. 1, 5, 6, and 7, forms of chimneys adapted to the former class of burners, and in figs. 2, 3, and 4, other forms, adapted to the latter class of burners.

The air, entering the base of the chimney, must be so deflected in its ascending current as to be directed against the base of the flame. This may be done either by the form of the chimney-base itself, or by to or form part of the higher. I have shown, in figs. 1, 5, 6, and 7, forms of bases where the throats of the chimneys themselves are so constructed as to deflect the current of ascending air, and, in figs. 1, 3, and 4, other forms of chimneys, designed to be used in connection with burners of the class of the sun and comet burners, where a deflecting plate attached to the burner performs the function, and renders' such deflecting surfaces unnecessary in the chimney itself.

The base, being thus adapted to the, burner upon which it is to be used, supports the body of the chimduced by the union of the oxygen of the air with the combustion, it follows that it is desirable to spread placing, within the chimney, plates which are attached .by producing the requisite draught.

ney, which Iconstruct of an oval form, so as to bring the greater breadth of the current of air into contact with the breadth of the flame.

It is obvious'that in a round chimney, a large current of air is carried upward, which, being made to act against the edges of the flame producedby a flatwick tube, tends to narrow the flame, and prevent its expansion in the plane of the width of the wick. Other parts of the ascending column, following; the form of the chimney, are not brought in contact with the flame, and thus tend to cool the gases by carrying away their heat, and thus preventing their perfectcombustion It is apparent, then, that for a flat-wick tube, a flattened chimney should be used. Such chimneys are in common use, but theyhave a defect-in construction which produces several evils. They are all, as they are extended upwards above the oval bulb, made to converge, and terminate in a cylindrical or tapering top, having a round mouth. The effect of this convergence is, first, by contracting the current of ascending air, to narrow the upper part of the flame, and thus check and prevent that spreading which has been shown to be essential to perfect combustion and, secondly, to, bring the ends of the flat flame into contact with the shoulders at the upper part of the bulb, and thus to produce what is commonly called smoking, but which is, in fact, the escape of combustible gases, which, by contact with orproximity to the chimney, are so cooled as to be reduced in temperature below the point at which they will burn, or are unconsumed. by reason of a deficient supply of oxygen.

Another ill effect of this construction is, that the heat being applied unequally to different parts of the chimney, an irregular expansion occurs, resulting in the fracture of the glass chimney.

In order to obviate these disadvantages, I construct my chimney of an oval form from a point-at or near the level of the top of the wick-tube to the mouth of the chimney. The air entering this chimney is first deflected against the base of the flame, and then, ascending, rises along and in contact with or close proximity to the flattened flame, yielding its oxygen as required to support the combustion, and being only slightly, or not at all, contracted in-the direction of the breadth of the flame, the current does not/prevent the full ex pansion of the flame, nor are its upper corners brought into such contiguity tn the chimney as to prevent combustion, or endanger the'chimney by irregularly heating it. In order to give full width to the flame, the chimneymust be widened from the throat of the base to a distance sufficient to permit the flame to spread as far as it will, and thence be carried to the mouth in a gradually-diminishing oval, so as tomake the mouth narrow enough to prevent the formation of descending currents passing through the mouthinto the body of the phirnney, which would be fatal to its eifective action, yet, at the same time, so contracted as to cause a rapid flow of air upward through the chimney, the current being constantly contracted so as to bring the portions of air, which, being nearest the wall of the chimney at the base of the flame, have not yielded the oxygen therein contained, into contact with the heated ascending and unconsumed gases evolved from the Wick, and thus, by ccnstantly supplying fresh and V heated oxygen to them as they rise, not reducing their temperature, and insuring their complete combustion.

.It is necessary that the portion of the chimney above the flame should be elongated to effect the best result, It is by this elongation that my chimney is distinguished from the flattened globe, shown in the patent of E. B. Requa, of February 24, 1863. In the use of that flattened globe, it will be found that the tendency of the flame is to extend upward at the. corners, and, consequently, to smoke when the wick is raised, as high above the end of the wick-tube as may be done in the use of my improved chimney.

The mouth of the chimney may be made flaring, as shown in fig. 7, or terminating, as shown in the other fi ures. nitric parallel or slightly cpnverging, as shown in figs. 1, 2, 3, 4, and 5 but this contraction in the direction of the longer axis of the oval, must not be extended to such a degree as to compress the flame by the contraction of the ascending current, and, thus prevent its spreading to the extent necessary for perfect combustion, nor so as to expose the glass to contact with the ends of the flame.

I have referred in this description to an oval chimney. By the use of this term, I do not intend to confine my claim to a chimney of that precise form. The chimney may be of an elliptical form, but I prefer to make it with the faces more flattened than in a regu-. lar ellipse. The faces may be constructed with lenses or reflectors, as in other well-known chimneys. I have shown, in figs. 1, 2, and 4, several diflerent modes of forming such lenses or reflectors. They may be made on one or both sides of the chimney, of the same or different sizes, plain or radiated, as shown in fig. 4:. I do not, in this application, ask to cover any'novel features in the construction of such lenses or reflectors, but I purpose to make them the subject of future applications, when Ihave determined what are the best forms.

In the annexed drawings, in all the figures- The letter A is used to designate the base of the tom; around the cone, instead of drawing in the base.

to form the throat, as seen at fig. 5, 860.

B is the body of the-chimney, with flattened sides, and elongated in the direction'of its vertical axis and G is the mouth of the'chiinney, which, in most cases, is contracted, but preserving the same oval or flattened ,section as the remainder of the chimney.

By the dotted line in fig. 2, I have shown the mouth of the chimney as made higher at theends. This will be found, for some burners, to be a better form of construetion than that indicated by dotted lines in fig. 3, where one of the flattened sides at the mouth is higher than the other, as it tends to increase the draught at the ends of the flame, and thereby prevent the running up of the flame into points which smoke, and impinging against the glass. ause the chimney. to crack.

Having thus explained the principle of my improvements, and indicated several forms in which I design to employ them,

What I claim as my invention, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is-

A chimney for kerosene and other lamps, combining in its construction the following elements, viz: A round base, A, adapted to'the burner on which it is to be used, with a deflecting surface, a, (except in chimneys for lamps where the deflecting-plate forms part of the. burner,) and an oval or flattened body, B, extended in the line of its vertical axis, and tapering to its mouth 0, which retains the same flattened or oval form as that of the body, substantially as shown.

In testimony whereof, I have signed my. name to this specification, in the presence of two subscribing witnesses.

Witnesses:

T. H.-SPRAeuu, JosEPn R. EDSON.

a N. EAGLE.

The sides of the flattened chimney may be 

